Toscar Sauvignon Blanc 2009

Looks like summer has finally decide to rear it’s ugly head in Melbourne. While I don’t mind the heat, I don’t go out of my way to spend days on end in high 30s/40 degree heat. Much better off spending the day in a restaurant with good air conditioning, which is what we did yesterday. An excellent lunch at La Luna, washed down with a nice selection from the small but well thought out list. La Luna has to be one of the most consistently excellent joints in Melbourne, best steak for my money too.

Toscar Tempranillo Crianza 2008

To be honest, this is very similar to the 2007 that I reviewed last year. Consistently good quality and well priced wines are always good in my book. Sure, it’s not the most exciting thing to drink, but for 14 bucks I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better wine to go with those Tuesday night lamb chops…

Toscar Monastrell Crianza 2006

Toscar Monastrell has to be one of the best value wines from Spain around, and this is it’s older brother. A year in wood, smooths out the edges and lends a little finesse to the wine, while keeping the freshness and bold spirit. In fact when I had a look at the range a few months ago, this really stood out as a favorite.

Toscar Rosado 2008

It is that time of year when a good rose is in order. Well, it is normally. We’ve been getting good rain here in Melbourne, which is odd for this time of year but more than welcome. This puppy is 100% monastrell from Alicante, and it confirms my thoughts that the best two grapes for rose from Spain are Monastrell and Garnarcha. Although a rosado made from Mencia that I tasted a couple of weeks ago was excellent as well…mor on that soon.

“My Favourite Spanish Wine” 2007

It is quite a cheeky name, but the value here is unmistakable. I’m sure google will have a field day with the title of this post too…So a similar blend to the 2005 I reviewed a while ago, Tempranillo and Monastrell from Alicante in all its fresh and rustic glory. And it’s in screwcap now [...]

Laudum Monastrell ‘Barrica Especial’ 2006

I’ve done a couple of blind tastings this year with monastrell and blends of monatrell with things like cabernet, merlot, tempranillo, syrah, even some viura. But I come to the same conclusion each and every time:  I’m a much bigger fan of these straight Monastrell wines than the blended wines. I think that says more [...]

Laudum Crianza 2004

A blend of mostly old vine Monastrell with some Cabernet and Merlot. It goes into new french and american oak for 16 months and in to bottle…

Toscar Monastrell 2007

Toscar Monastrell 2007

I’m amazed that this wine is still $14, given all the movements in currency etc that have gone on over the past year. With exchange rates getting back towards the levels they were at 18 months ago (sitting around .57-.58 Aussie to a Euro), things are looking up and hopefully keeping any large price increases at bay. Anyway, I had a bit of a revelation with the classic description for Monastrell about a year ago. While eating a plate of ripe figs, I thought: ‘Hey this tastes like Monastrell’. I think fig and wild gamey notes are the primary flavours in monastrell from these southern regions of Spain.

Toscar Tempranillo Crianza 2007

I last looked at the 2003 vintage of this wine, and I think this is a little better. Just a quick note on this one…I have a fair backlog to get through.

Toscar Sauvignon Blanc 2008

What does Sauvignon Blanc from Alicante taste like? Is it another passion-fruit, tropical fruit copy of the now ubiquitous NZ style? Not at all, this is rather herbal and grassy, and to my mind more adult than many of the new world versions we see here (there are exceptions of course, Mahi comes to mind as a big exception). It does have a sense of being more savoury than sweet too.